
(The Hague, Netherlands) – After significant pressure from President Donald Trump, NATO leaders agreed to bump up their defense spending. Nearly three dozen leaders signed off on a statement from the summit claiming that allies were setting aside 5% of annual GDP on defense and security by 2035. Weapons and ammunition sent to Ukraine can also be included in the defense budgets, making the goal a bit easier to hit for some countries.
Trump applauded the increase saying that some did not think it was possible. International leaders stress that an attack on one member of the alliance is an attack on all members reinforcing the theme of collective security. Each country must now increase their spending by billions of dollars. It comes as the biggest spender in the group – the United States – focuses more on the Middle East and Indo-Pacific in place of Europe.


On Wednesday, President Trump made an appearance at the summit. Trump shared a text from NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte he received on the plane ride over to the Netherlands.
Rutte also made headlines for his comments calling Trump “Daddy” after being asked about Trump’s recent comments on Iran and Israel. Rutte said “Daddy has to sometimes use strong language” referring to an f-bomb Trump dropped while addressing the conflict to reporters. The White House posted a video to an Usher song having some fun with the story
🎶 Daddy’s home… Hey, hey, hey, Daddy.
President Donald J. Trump attended the NATO Summit in The Hague, Netherlands. pic.twitter.com/asJb5FD2Ii
— The White House (@WhiteHouse) June 26, 2025
Several countries voiced their opposition to the spending increase. Spain called the move “unreasonable”, Belgium said they won’t hit that goal, and Slovakia says they are in charge of deciding how much they want to spend on their own defense. Trump singled out Spain saying that he was going to negotiate directly with the country calling their position terrible. Trump also went after Canada calling them a low payer.


NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte,
United Kingdom Prime Minister Keir Starmer,
and other world leaders attending 2025 NATO Summit at the World Forum in The Hague, The Netherlands. (Photo by DPPA/Sipa USA)
Leaders are widely describing this year’s summit as “historic”. Finland’s President Alexander Stubb said “we’re witnessing the birth of a new NATO”. Previous summits were solely focused on providing support to Kyiv, but this year was more about general defense. Trump said that he originally went into this meeting more as a requirement, but left feeling hopeful and admired the pride and loyalty of the other countries.
77WABC host Bo Snerdley talked a bit on Tuesday ahead of the summit about what President Trump aims to get done